Clemson Sets NCAA Record for Futility, Officiating Takes the Spotlight (Updated 3:15 pm)

07-08 Basketball179

Preface – Poor Oliver Purnell. Now he knows how Rick Barnes felt. And, we just happen to have a great little reminder for him of how Frank Haith felt last year that you can see by clicking here.

We are updating what was once the ‘open entry’ for Sunday with more fallout from Sunday’s Clemson-Carolina basketball game.

I’ve been swamped with work and and just haven’t had any time to be focused on the blog…so, it wasn’t until I went home for lunch and heard everyone on sports radio talking about the officiating last night until I realized that it really wasn’t just me who saw what I thought I saw on Sunday night. (You know, sometimes I worry).

Until now, we had limited our quick comments on the officiating with just a few quick points, but in light of the reaction that is out there it is definitely worth elevating some things including Micky Plyler’s rant that can be seen here.

If you are tired of hearing about people bitching and moaning about the officiating from last night’s Clemson-North Carolina game then you probably need to stop reading now and get back to whatever you were doing.

Simply stated, Ted Valentine, Bernard Clinton, Tony Greene ought to be ashamed of themselves! They should return their paychecks from last night so they would not feel that guilty.

See, this should not be a surprise to anyone. It has happened for years and will continue to happen.

DUKE AND NORTH CAROLINA PLAYED HOME BASKETBALL GAMES THIS WEEKEND AND THE BLUE DEVILS AND TAR HEELS COMBINED TO SHOOT 69 FREE THROWS WHILE THEIR OPPONENTS SHOT 20. DUKE AND NORTH CAROLINA COMBINED TO MAKE 51 FREE THROWS AND THEIR OPPONENTS MADE 10.

The outcome has been pre-determined so why even make the trip. Here is my suggestion:

Since we know they won’t let us win, I ask, “Why even go up there?”

We had originally limited our comments to the following quick observations…but there is so much more!

Somehow UNC-CH can trap without fouling and Clemson cannot. Strange?! Must be the coaching!

UNC takes 36 free throw attempts
Clemson takes 7 free throw attempts

^ This DESPITE Clemson’s consistent attacking the basket with dribble penetration and balanced offense that didn’t ignore James Mays and the post.

What is sad is that we ALL knew it was going to happen. One of best friends is a Clemson graduate and he was at the game. With the Tigers lead around 10 points in the second half I sent him the following, “This is going to be even more painful. You know that the officials simply aren’t going to allow this, don’t you?”

I guess I just got lucky.

At least this time Tyler Hanbrough wasn’t allowed to basically tackle Clemson’s shooter on the final play of regulation like was allowed in LittleJohn earlier in the year.

Folks, what you saw last night was a CLASSIC example of why Rick Barnes no longer coaches at Clemson and left the ACC. Unfortunately, it is a no-win situation for most programs. A couple of other observations made by the SFN team of authors:

* In 50 minutes of play, Clemson got only 7 free throws versus 37 on the other side. In other words, about every one and one-third minute UNC was getting a free throw, and Clemson had to wait over 7 minutes for one.

* Not one player on UNC had more than three fouls including Hansbrough who played 47 minutes. Have you ever seen a double over time game when a team did not have a single player in foul trouble?

* I remarked to my wife last night that the ACC doesn’t even try to hide their bias any more — the foot-stop-and-kick “fast break” being the worst example we’ve faced this year. I find it harder and harder to watch any ACC contests the worse this gets.

* In the first half last night KC Rivers picked up two back to back tacky fouls – one on offense and one on defense. I immediately remarked to my wife that is the kind of little stuff that goes unnoticed and completely changes games especially in light of the amazing way that Tyler Hansbrough literally runs over people and ‘plays so physical’ and yet NEVER…I mean NEVER even remotely gets in foul trouble.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

07-08 Basketball

179 Responses to Clemson Sets NCAA Record for Futility, Officiating Takes the Spotlight (Updated 3:15 pm)

  1. Ed89 02/12/2008 at 11:15 AM #

    good analysis, but as far as the Cincy/NCSU game, i don’t think I’ve ever seen a team ‘hack’ as much as Cincy did during that game. they were extremely physical. again, it’s not pure number of fouls, but when they were called – momentum killers. very interesting info from rick – i thought the same thing. however, the worst call of the season was last night in the villanova/georgetown game. villanova was frigging robbed.

  2. wufpup76 02/12/2008 at 11:16 AM #

    “That game was fun to watch (Kansas-Texas). I did not even notice the refs. I did think there was no way any team in the ACC could play like that. Sad really, I would prefer to watch that game than any ACC game and it was because of the refs.”

    Yup. For a while, that’s what ACC basketball looked like in it’s heyday … both teams were allowed to be aggressive and you could see confidence build for each at different moments of the game … there were true momentum swings, dictated by the players on the court and not BS calls … late, when kansas was trying to rally, a few kansas players took to flopping to try for cheap calls – and they weren’t called! it’s a miracle!

    that’s not to say i agreed w/ every call in the game, but it was one of the more even and consistently called games i’ve seen in a while

  3. highstick 02/12/2008 at 11:25 AM #

    Odd, how is Carolina going to go undefeated? I just got an email from a Clemson fan friend of mine(also one of those who didn’t matriculate from there because he couldn’t get in, I guess) who told me that Clemson was going to win the ACC championship in football. I guess Bowden hasn’t talked to Butchy about that yet, huh?

    Whether or not the officiating was horrendous, all Clemson had to do was hit the free throws that they did have. I reminded my friend about how many “calls” get ignored when Clemson plays football. I guess “what goes around, comes around sometimes”!

    Where’d Basketball Jones go? Also did you note that his “monalogue” contained that word “pathetic” in it several times. Seems like that’s always the terminology they use…hmmm, think they teach that in one of those academically challenging courses???

  4. wufpup76 02/12/2008 at 11:26 AM #

    ^Ed89 – bad, bad, call in the ‘Nova-G’town game … it was an extremely physical game and they called that?

    i think i understand why the ref felt compelled to make that call – i honestly think the ref thought the G’town player (wallace) would be forced out of bounds w/ time still on the clock … that puts the ref in the uneniviable postion of having to call a contact foul or reward ‘nova w/ a shot at their end of the court w/ a second or so left … split second call, and i feel kinda bad for the ref in that situation … i’m sure he did what he thought was right at the time, but would take it back under further review 🙂

  5. wufpup76 02/12/2008 at 11:40 AM #

    from the n&o link provided by RAWFS –

    “Williams, whose fifth-ranked team plays the Cavaliers in Charlottesvile tonight, said he doesn’t believe in the “acting” method of taking a charge — and that when his players do get charging calls, they are legitimate (ROFLOL!! – complete BS).

    “I hate teams that just flop all the time, and if you see one of my guys flopping, then it’s a guy that I’m going to be really ticked at,” Williams said. “Twenty years as a head coach and I’ve never had anybody that other teams would talk about as a flopper (hansborough, maybe? how many times will he be bowled over by guards who are 7-8 inches shorter and weigh 100 lbs. less?).””

    …

    “Which may be a good thing, because according to Clougherty, flopping can eventually bruise more than a player’s body in the official’s eyes.

    “Eventually, the actors hurt themselves because as many teams as we have, [the officials] get to know who are the guys who are trying to fool them, and they discuss those things in the pregame — the certain players out there that are taking flops, not contact,” he said.” – TOTAL, COMPLETE, UTTER BS … ummmm, battier ring any bells? … wojoshoeski maybe? … paulus now??? … keep selling your blue blood BS elsewhere clougherty

  6. wufpup76 02/12/2008 at 11:46 AM #

    ^and i didn’t even note how williams takes a not so subtle dig at kerkooskie and duke in that quote … pretty funny

    “i hate teams that flop all the time … never had a player other teams would talk about flopping” … heh heh, ok

  7. Ed89 02/12/2008 at 12:16 PM #

    dbr has a new writer:

    http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/articles/?p=24367

    classic line at the end, “The Play Caller is a nine-year high school and college basketball official who happens to be a Duke fan.”

    ya don’t say? i think they’re are ALOT of college baskeball officials that are duke (or unc) fans. hey, officials like wal-mart, too! 🙂

  8. wufpup76 02/12/2008 at 12:23 PM #

    ^too funny … at least it’s admitted that he’s a duke fan

  9. statered 02/12/2008 at 1:57 PM #

    Now it occurs to me there is an empirical way to measure who has the worst refs if you subscribe to the idea the more flopping there is in a league the worse the refs are.

    Which conference leads in the average number or charges/blocks called in league games? Or by team would probably be more telling….

  10. Wait_Til_This_Year 02/12/2008 at 2:43 PM #

    Face it, guys, the large majority of “Wal-Mart” fans are going to like Carolina and Duke. State has had a long stretch of not making the NCAAs, followed by 5 years of the “wait and launch” offense. People who did not go to any of the schools around here are going to pick a team to pull for based on two things: winning, and how fun they are to watch. In recent history, State has offered less of both than Carolina or Duke.

    To any older fans that may be on here, was there not a time when these folks pulled for State?

    Not that it actually matters, because the seats are usually full at the RBC anyway.

  11. jones92 02/12/2008 at 2:53 PM #

    Statefans Nation welcomes opinions, not insulting other posters because you don’t like what they think. We’ll just delete this one and move along, thanks.

  12. jones92 02/12/2008 at 3:02 PM #

    And I suppose “wal-mart fans” is meant as a complement? Who are you kidding?

  13. packbackr04 02/12/2008 at 3:19 PM #

    there is no way to compare the Cincy game with the game on Sunday night. Cincys football team was out there playing us, they should have been called for 20 more fouls than they did!!!!!!

  14. Mike 02/12/2008 at 4:15 PM #

    Couple things here after resisting for a long time. The game was a travesty – usually when there is a discrepency in foul numbers it is because one team was behind and forced to foul at the end. Look at the numbers throughout and they should be fairly even, with the end throwing off the numbers. In this case, the fouls were out of whack the entire game.

    With regards to Clougherty, he is a man of integrity and I have known him personally for many years. He is not a blue blood, nor will he give in to his blue blood boss. He would walk away from the job before he ever remotely gave any advantage in any way. Look up in the NC State record books for baseball. His son holds or did hold several baseball records at State, and John is certainly not a UNC fan.

    The problem Clougherty faces is the lack of talent. He can do all the training, vidoe reviews, suspensions etc, but if you dont have the horses, not much he can do. He can try to hire more, but where does he get them? Trust me, he is working hard to improve the officiating, and he knows it is bad. The games still go on, and unfortunately he can only work with what he has. Clougherty is a good man, but his officials ARE intimidated by the K’s and Williams’ of the world.

  15. highstick 02/12/2008 at 4:47 PM #

    Has Clemson filed some sort of official protest or review request on the game the other night? I ran across something earlier on a Clemson site, but I couldn’t access it.

  16. MrPlywood 02/12/2008 at 5:34 PM #

    re: the Nova/G’Town game/call – the guy for Nova that was looking for a game-winning shot endured MUCH more contact at the top of the arc and along the baseline as he drove. He was forced out just as much as the G’Town kid on the ensuing play, but no call.

    My other pet peeve? When refs anticipate end-of-game fouls, as the trailing team puts the winning team on the line. Many fouls are called before there’s contact, fouls that should be intentional (i.e. grabbing a guy from behind without a play on the ball) are let go as garden variety.

    Again, consistency is key…

  17. redfred2 02/12/2008 at 8:45 PM #

    Shhhhh, be quite, listen. UVA is is tied with the baby blues in Charlottesville right now, and I’m sure you couldn’t hear a unc fan complaining any calls all night. Those powder blues are just so much better fans/human beings than the rest of us.

  18. highstick 02/12/2008 at 10:06 PM #

    Postgame quote from Inside Crackolina:

    wtf was up with that?? our guys got shoved in the back 3 separate times when trying to get that last rebound and the refs simply refused to blow the whistle.

    this was a blatant example of the worst kind of officiating. trying to make up for a perceived slight by one team by punishing the other team in against a completely different opponent.

    ACC is a freakin joke from a management standpoint

    Was this the fan you were hearing, Fred????

  19. Mike 02/12/2008 at 10:33 PM #

    Of course, note the foul shots in this one. I think UNX had 12 and UVA 11. Even steven, and I did notice several times Mr Potato Head (was manufactured by Hasbro back in its day) got shoved in the paint on rebounds and no call. Had to love that. I think someone said something to make sure this game was called evenly.

    Those big, beady eyes of #50 make him resemble Mr. Potato Head. I think that would be a good name from now on.

  20. Pack84 02/13/2008 at 9:30 AM #

    “With regards to Clougherty, he is a man of integrity and I have known him personally for many years. He is not a blue blood, nor will he give in to his blue blood boss. He would walk away from the job before he ever remotely gave any advantage in any way.”

    I too know John Clougherty – although we’re not ‘pals’ in any sense of the word. But I will vouch for what the above poster says. The guy has more integrity in his pinkie fingernail than most people have in their entire body. He will tell it like it is, no matter if that’s what you want to hear or not.

  21. boonami 02/13/2008 at 11:08 AM #

    Mr. Potato Head.. I love it, but he looks like a retard with that blank stare. the Holes barely winning in UVA shows they aren’t the dominate team they think they are. No way they go far in the NCAAT.

  22. RAWFS 02/13/2008 at 12:03 PM #

    One of you guys that know John Clougherty: do me a favor and print this out and give it to him:

    How To End Flopping in the ACC Pronto

    What’s old is new again. Flopping is an old point of emphasis.

  23. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 02/13/2008 at 1:42 PM #

    When announcers say thing like UNC has made more free throws than their opponents have taken without so much as asking how this is possible it make the entire thing look like the WWE.

  24. smile102 02/13/2008 at 4:13 PM #

    173 posts about a UNC game; you know these comments are joyful reading for UNC supporters who relish the obsessive frustrations written here.

  25. highstick 02/13/2008 at 6:25 PM #

    I would venture to say that that’s 173 more intelligent posts that UNC supporters would ever read on Inside Crapolina where Walmart reigns supreme!

1 … 5 6 7 8

Leave a Reply